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Yellowstone Notebook
Yellowstone announces lottery for 2021-2022 Non-Commercially Guided Snowmobile Access Program -
 News Release   Yellowstone announces lottery for 2021-2022  Non-Commercially Guided Snowmobile Access Program           Snowmobile near Swan Lake NPS / Jacob W. Frank            News Release Date:  July 29, 2021  Contact:  Morgan Warthin , 307-344-2015   MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Beginning Sunday, August 1, people may  apply to the 2021-2022 winter lottery for permits to snowmobile in  Yellowstone without a commercial guide. Authorized in 2013, the Non-Commercially Guided Snowmobile Access Program  allows one group of up to five snowmobiles to enter Yellowstone from each of its four winter entrances per day.   This year’s lottery will be open on www.recreation.gov   from August 1-31, 2021. Successful applicants will be notified in early  September. Unclaimed or cancelled permits will be made available via www.recreation.gov   on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning on October 1, 2021. There  is no waiting list. Cancellations may occur throughout the winter  season, so check t...
“Land of the burning ground”: Yellowstone’s Native American history and traditions - USGS
       “Land of the burning ground”: Yellowstone’s Native American history and traditions                                         Release Date: July 26, 2021 We  sometimes think of Yellowstone as an untouched landscape, but humans  have been present in the area for over ten thousand years!  The history  and traditions of Native Americans in Yellowstone are as rich as the  landscape itself. Yelowstone  Caldera  Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Cole Messa, Ph.D. student and Professor Ken Sims, both in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Wyoming. To the Crow, it was the “land of the burning ground” or “land of vapors”; to the Blackfeet it was known as “many smoke”; to the Flatheads it was “smoke from the ground”; to the Kiowa it was called “the place of hot water.” Almost 150 years after its establishment by President Ulysses S. Gr...
Grand Teton Park Continues Efforts to Protect Bighorn Sheep - NPS
  News Release   Grand Teton Park Continues Efforts to Protect Bighorn Sheep  Qualified volunteers from 2020 invited to cull non-native mountain goats this               Date:  July 23, 2021  Contact:  Denise Germann, 307-739-3393  Contact:  CJ Adams, 307-739-3431    MOOSE, WY— Grand Teton National Park is continuing a multi-year program  to eradicate non-native mountain goats as part of a management plan  aimed to conserve a native and vulnerable population of Rocky Mountain  bighorn sheep in the Teton Range.   The program includes a qualified  volunteer culling program this fall, September 22-October 25, to remove  non-native mountain goats from the park.   The use of qualified volunteers is a tool identified in the National  Park Service’s 2019 Mountain Goat Management Plan. There is widespread  interest among local, state, and national stakeholders in conserving the  Teton Range bighorn sheep herd. The National Park Service is working on  this project in cooperation w...
High-water temperatures and low stream flows prompt fishing closures in Yellowstone National Park - NPS
  News Release   High-water temperatures and low stream flows prompt fishing closures in Yellowstone National Park           Spawning cutthroat trout, Lamar Valley NPS/Jay Fleming         Contact:  Morgan Warthin , (307) 344-2015   MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY - Effective Saturday, July 24, Yellowstone National Park’s rivers and streams will close to fishing   in the afternoon and evening due to high-water temperatures and  unprecedented low stream flows. This closure will protect the park’s  native and wild trout fisheries.   What will be closed?    Fishing on rivers and streams will be prohibited from 2 p.m. to sunrise the following day. The closure will remain in effect until further notice.  What will be open?    Anglers can fish from sunrise to 2 p.m. Yellowstone Lake and other lakes will remain open to fishing from sunrise to sunset as specified in the Fishing Regulations booklet .  Water temperatures have exceeded 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees  Celsius) in rece...
Modified operations at marinas on Jackson Lake - NPS
News Release Modified operations at marinas on Jackson Lake Park visitors advised to use caution when recreating on park waters           NPS Photo/C. Adams            News Release Date:  July 20, 2021  Contact:  Denise Germann, 307.739.3393  Contact:  C.J. Adams, 307.739.3431   MOOSE, WY—  Due  Grand Teton National Park visitors, boaters, and river users should  expect impacts to some recreational activities, including modified  operations at lake marinas, from the expected drawdown of Jackson Lake.  The public is advised to use caution when recreating on Jackson Lake and  the Snake River downstream of Jackson Lake Dam.   Due to very low natural flows and the need to supplement downstream  reservoirs, Jackson Lake is expected to drawdown rapidly to levels only  seen three times in the last thirty years.   Park concessions with marina facilities, including Grand Teton Lodge Company  and Signal Mountain Lodge Company ,  are modifying operations in accordance with forecasted lake level  ...
Unauthorized Yellowstone park guide sentenced for illegal activities - NPS
  News Release   Unauthorized Yellowstone park guide sentenced for illegal activities           East Entrance sign NPS / Jacob W. Frank            News Release Date:  July 18, 2021  Contact:  Mark Trimble , (307) 772-2124   Acting United States Attorney Bob Murray announced today that THEODORE EUGENE GARLAND ,  age 60 of Edmond, Oklahoma was sentenced on seven counts of illegal  activities and violations in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Garland  appeared in front of Magistrate Judge Mark L. Carman in Mammoth Hot  Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming on July 2, 2021, for the  sentencing.   Theodore Garland has a social-media page, a podcast, and a guidebook.  All three have overlapping pictures and posts about his guided tours in  YNP, which violated closures and other park regulations and encouraged  visitors to do the same. Some of the examples included providing  unauthorized guided tours; trespassing on thermal grounds; violating  swimming closures and cliff jumping; c...
Dust abatement activities on Moose-Wilson Road July 27-29 - NPS
 Releases   News Release   Dust abatement activities on Moose-Wilson Road July 27-29  Temporary closure with no through traffic           NPS Photo/C. Adams            News Release Date:  July 19, 2021  Contact:  Denise Germann, 307-739-3393  Contact:  CJ Adams, 307-739-3431   MOOSE, WY— The unpaved section of the Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton  National Park will be temporarily closed for seasonal dust abatement  beginning 4 a.m. Tuesday, July 27 and will reopen by 8 a.m. Thursday,  July 29.  This routine dust abatement application happens several times  during the summer on the approximately one-mile of unpaved section of  the seven-mile road.      During the dust abatement application July 27-29, motorists and  bicyclists should plan to use an alternate route as this temporary  closure will prevent making a ‘through trip’ on the Moose-Wilson Road  between the Granite Canyon Entrance Station and the Teton Park Road at  Moose, Wyoming.    For those wishing to reach the...
The travertine of Mammoth Hot Springs - Caldera Chronicles
       An outlier of Yellowstone's thermal areas: the travertine of Mammoth Hot Springs                                         Release Date: July 12, 2021 Early  explorers during the separate Washburn, Hayden, and Hague expeditions  of the 1870s were astonished by the massive terraces and pools of  hot-spring limestone, better known as travertine, at Mammoth Hot  Springs—a chemical oddity that is quite different from other Yellowstone  thermal  areas.  Yellowstone  Caldera  Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Pat Shanks, research geologist emeritus with the U.S. Geological Survey. Sources/Usage: Public Domain.  View Media Details Map of Yellowstone National Park showing locations of  thermal  basins that host hot springs, geysers, and mudpots.  Dark green areas host alkaline-chloride fluids.  Yellowstone Caldera margin shown as bold dashed l...
Grand Teton initiates habitat restoration projects - NPS
  News Release   Grand Teton initiates habitat restoration projects           NPS Photo/C. Adams        Subscribe   | What is RSS     News Release Date:  July 15, 2021  Contact:  Denise Germann, 307.739.3393  Contact:  C.J. Adams, 307.739.3431   Grand Teton National Park staff have initiated habitat restoration  projects in the southern part of the park. The work is part of a  multi-phase restoration effort to replace approximately 4,500 acres of  former non-native grass fields with native sagebrush steppe habitat. A  healthy sagebrush ecosystem in Grand Teton is vital for the diversity  and abundance of native plants and wildlife species like elk, bison,  moose, pronghorn, and sage grouse that rely on them. Through the support  of the Grand Teton National Park Foundation, the park has worked to  return these pastures to their former, native glory.   Beginning in the late 1800s, Jackson Hole homesteaders converted large  swaths of local sagebrush steppe habitat to hayfields for agr...
Jenny Lake Explorer digital application experience now available to visitors in Grand Teton National Park - NPS
  News Release   Jenny Lake Explorer digital application experience now available to visitors in Grand Teton National Park           NPS Photo/J. Bonney            News Release Date:  July 13, 2021  Contact:  Denise Germann, 307.739.3393  Contact:  C.J. Adams, 307.739.3431   MOOSE, WY— Grand Teton National Park Foundation and Grand Teton National  Park are pleased to share the launch of the public beta version of the  Jenny Lake Explorer App, developed and published by Grand Teton National  Park Foundation and available soon on app stores. As a young (or young  at heart) visitor explores the Jenny Lake area, they can complete  multiple interactive activities on a smartphone or tablet app. The  experiences integrate with onsite exhibits, discovery trail, and lake  overlooks.   This modern, digital extension of educational displays at Jenny Lake was  made possible by Grand Teton National Park Foundation through a  generous grant of $250,000 from AT&T. The gift was part of the Jen...
Yellowstone National Park visitation statistics on Fourth of July weekend 2021 - NPS
  News Release   Yellowstone National Park visitation statistics on Fourth of July weekend 2021           Old Faithful summer eruption NPS / Jacob W. Frank            News Release Date:  July 8, 2021  Contact:  Morgan Warthin , 307-344-2015   MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS, WY – Parkwide vehicle entries through the Fourth  of July weekend showed an 8% increase over the same weekend in 2019.  This year is compared to 2019 instead of 2020 because of COVID-19.   Visitation statistics (*vehicle entries) per day for July 2-5, 2021, compared to July 5-8, 2019, are listed below.        Park entrance  Vehicle entries  Percent increase 2021 over 2019       Friday, July 2, 2021  Friday, July 5, 2019       East  1,148  1,473  -22%    North  2,106  2,026  4%    Northeast  570  862  -34%    South  2,049  2,226  -8%    West  5,228  5,680  -8%    Total  11,101  12,267  -10%        Saturday, July 3, 2021   Saturday, July 6, 2019       East  1,257  1,405  -11%    North  2,263  1,983  ...
The long journey of water from Yellowstone’s hot springs and geysers to different oceans - USGS
       The long journey of water from Yellowstone’s hot springs and geysers to different oceans                                         Release Date: July 5, 2021 Yellowstone’s  hot spring waters ultimately flow for thousands of miles before  entering the ocean. But waters enter two different oceans—the Gulf of  Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.  Yellowstone  Caldera  Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Shaul Hurwitz, Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. There are  numerous hot springs  and a lot  water  flowing in Yellowstone, but what is the fate of the hot water erupted from  Old Faithful Geyser , for example? Where does that water ultimately end up? Sources/Usage: Public Domain.  View Media Details Map of Yellowstone National Park showing the major rivers and the continental divide (red dashed). Yellowstone Caldera is ou...